Germany's Miroslav Klose (C) vies with Sweden's Petter Hansson (L) during the second round of 2006 World Cup soccer match in Munich, Germany, June 24, 2006. Sweden lost to Germany 0-2.(Xinhua Photo)

    MUNICH, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Striker Lukas Podolski scored twice in eight minutes to give host Germany a 2-0 victory over Sweden and a quarter-final berth in the first match of the World Cup knockout round here on Saturday.

    Podolski scored his second goal of the tournament four minutes into the game, when fellow striker Miroslav Klose broke clear in the box, was just stopped by Andreas Isaksson and Podolski was on hand to convert the rebound.

    The 21-year-old put it 2-0 eight minutes later after a fine combination with Klose, who slipped a pass through and Podolski found the back of the net with ease.

    Sweden suffered another blow in the 35th minute when defender Teddy Lucic was sent off for pulling back Klose and received his second yellow card.

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic showed his class for the first time in the game. The Swede received the ball in the box, snapped around and rifles it towards Jens Lehmann's goal. Lehmann was just quick enough to palm it out for a corner.

    Sweden wasted their best chance in the 52nd minute. Striker Henrik Larsson was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in the box by Christoph Metzelder. But the 35-year-old made a complete hash of it and it flied over the crossbar.

    Germany continued to pressure the Swede, trying to kill off the match as soon as possible. Captain Michael Ballack drove the ball toward the Swedish goal in the 55th minute but goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, who had already made a host of saves, forced the ball onto the post.

    Sweden did remarkably well to hold off Germany with only 10 men. But they could do nothing to score one, let alone two goals.

    Germany came close to increasing their lead as Schneider's 85th-minute drive was deflected by Tobias Linderoth on to a post, while substitute Oliver Neuville's shot was blocked.

    Germany head coach juergen Klinsmann said after the match: "We were extremely well prepared from the kickoff. I played with full power and full energy. We wanted to attack and give them pressure from the start and the players did very well. "

    Sweden's coach Lars Lagerback was unhappy with the red card. "It's tough to play a team as strong as Germany. It got tougher to play them with ten men."

    But Lagerback refused to blame the referee, saying: "This kind of things happen in football. It happened to us this time. I can only say that it's bad luck."

    Lagerback also praise the German team. "They had a good start in the group stage. Today they control the game. I think they have a good chance to go on at the tournament."

    Germany will face the winner of the Argentina-Mexico tie in the quarter-finals.

    Klinsmann said Argentina are difficult rivals but he added that the South American must play their game later Saturday night.

    "We have a lot of respect for Agentina," he said. "They are one of the best teams in the world. But we think we will beat them." Enditem

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